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The New York Liberty have been on a mission all season long; locked in from the get-go, they have been looking forward to avenging their loss to the Las Vegas Aces in the 2023 WNBA Finals. Now, with the two teams matched up against each other in the 2024 WNBA Semifinals, the Liberty could not have asked much more from their stars, with Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu both playing well as they take a 2-0 lead in the series — putting them one win away from making it back to the Finals.
During the Liberty's 88-84 win over the Aces in Game 2, it was Ionescu who took charge for her team. For the entirety of the postseason to this point, Ionescu has been on fire, and her incredible play continued on Tuesday night. She dropped 24 points on 9-18 shooting from the field along with nine rebounds and five assists to lead the way for New York. And in so doing, she made a nice bit of history that has her on par with one of the greatest point guards in league history.
According to ESPN Stats & Info, Ionescu became just the second player in WNBA history to tally at least 20 points and five assists on 50 percent shooting from the field or better in three consecutive playoff games. The Liberty guard joined Diana Taurasi in that exclusive club, with Taurasi accomplishing the feat back in 2009 (she also had three such consecutive postseason outings).
The Liberty would not have gotten this far without the contributions of Ionescu. Her consistency in this year's playoffs has been remarkable; after her solid Game 2 effort against the Aces, she is now averaging 24.5 points, six assists, and 3.5 made threes through four playoff games on elite 53/42/93 shooting splits. No player in WNBA history has averaged 20 points and five assists on 50/40/90 shooting over the course of an entire playoff run, according to StatMamba, which makes Ionescu's run all the more impressive.
Of course, the job is far from finished. The series will be shifting to Michelob ULTRA Arena, and the Aces have plenty of championship mettle. As the two-time defending champions, A'ja Wilson and company are not going down without a fight. But if Ionescu continues her strong run of form, then the Liberty should be in a good position to dispatch of perhaps the biggest threat to their goal of winning a championship.
Liberty are one step closer to dethroning the Aces
The 2023 Aces were a very dominant team that even the 32-win Liberty had troubles dispatching of. That Las Vegas team nearly got through the postseason without a loss, with a spirited performance from New York in Game 3 of the WNBA Finals preventing them from going perfect.
However, the 2024 Aces don't appear to have the same energy as they did last year. They had their fair share of defensive troubles throughout the regular season, which is shocking since they have perhaps the best defensive player in the league in A'ja Wilson, and it felt as though they were sleepwalking throughout the campaign. Meanwhile, the Liberty have a singular goal in mind: to reach the WNBA's mountaintop.
Now, the Liberty are one step closer to their goal of making it back to the WNBA Finals, and if they do, they also have the added benefit of being the team to knock off the defending champion.
